UTEP College of Education: Teaching program gets status warning

University hasn't notified students of accreditation change

The University of Texas-El Paso College of Education's teacher preparation program received a warning status from the State Board of Educator Certification in May after some students failed to meet standards in two certification exams in the previous year. (Vanessa Monsisvais / El Paso Times)

The University of Texas at El Paso's College of Education teacher preparation program received an "accredited-warned" status from the state in May, putting its accreditation in jeopardy if student passing rates on certification examinations don't improve.

The designation also prompted the school to change its admission standards starting this spring.

Although UTEP has known about the warning since May, it hasn't notified students or the broader community of the rating.

"The students who are in the program now will not be impacted at all," said Stephen Riter, a former University of Texas at El Paso provost and vice president who was appointed interim dean at the college in August. "We will do everything we can to be removed from the warned status."

Most immediately, a program under warning status could be required to obtain professional services approved by the state or have a monitor appointed, according to the State Board for Educator Certification.

Another year of low passing rates on the exams could result in probationary status for the college, according to the board's Accountability System for Educator Preparation. A probation status for three consecutive years -- or two if the state determines it's necessary -- could lead to the college having its accreditation revoked.

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A degree from an accredited college or university and a passing grade on the certification examination is needed to become a certified teacher in Texas. Accreditation ensures that programs and universities meet state standards of quality and could determine a school's eligibility for participation in federal and state financial aid programs.

Accreditation is also necessary for students to transfer their college credits or enter a graduate program.

REPORTER

Andrew Kreighbaum

Recent changes in state law raised the passing standard for all students and for all demographic groups to 80 percent for the 2011-12 school year. That compares with 75 percent and 70 percent the previous two years, respectively.

Overall, UTEP students hit the new standard with a passing rate of 81 percent. But female and Hispanic students came up short. Female students had a passing rates of 79 percent and Hispanics 78 percent.

UTEP was one of six programs that received the warned status, including the University of Texas at Brownsville and Sul Ross State University in Alpine and Rio Grande. The Region 19 Education Service Center's alternative teacher certification program in El Paso was rated as accredited, as were 142 other programs statewide.

Texas A&M International University was the only one in the state to receive a probation status.

"I know a lot of students are having a hard time passing the test," said Andrea Webb, an English major at UTEP who will graduate in December. She recently passed the teaching certification exam on her first attempt. "I have a lot of friends who just can't pass it. Some already have their degrees but can't get a (teaching) job because they haven't passed the test."

UTEP students also did not meet passing standards in early childhood education and eighth- through 12th-grade social studies for the second year in a row. Although only a fraction of students took those two exams, only 45 percent and 50 percent of them passed, according to initial test results from Texas Education Agency.

Not meeting the performance standards for an individual certification field wouldn't necessarily affect the school's accreditation status. But the state could bar the university from offering that field of study if the standards are not met for three years in a row, according to the State Board for Educator Certification.

Officials pointed out that students take classes in different colleges before testing for certification. Some, like history students, take few if any courses through the College of Education, officials said.

Action plan

The college developed an action plan in July to address the certification scores in accordance with state law, Riter said. It's also adding more support for test takers and increasing requirements for those seeking to take the certification exams.

Administrators are also raising admissions standards for the education program and weeding out those who are not serious about becoming teachers, Riter said.

A notice for students advising them that effective Oct. 1, 2013, the college would no longer allow exemptions to the Texas Higher Education Assessment exam required before students enroll in any coursework is now posted on the Department of Teacher Education web page. It was unclear when the notice was posted.

UTEP's College of Education previously allowed some exemptions and allowed students to enroll before they took or passed the Texas Higher Education Assessment examination, including having a certain amount of completed coursework.

"Specifically, each student is required to meet the minimum passing scores on the THEA exam in order to be admitted into the Teacher Education program," the notice reads. "We will honor documented and signed THEA exemptions prior to 10/1 /2013."

Students must take three sections of the exam: Reading, math and writing. Those who have received a documented and signed exemption on their degree plan prior to Oct. 1 will be grandfathered in, the notice states.

More than 2,200 students are currently enrolled in the College of Education, according to university data. About 170 are enrolled in the early childhood to sixth grade program, and another 210 are liberal arts students with a minor in secondary education. Figures show 117 are enrolled in the social studies concentration.

The board of certification next spring will review data from the 2012-2013 academic year when UTEP was just developing its response and action plan to the warning status. The Educator Certification Online System shows UTEP's annual pass rates for the 2012-13 academic year meet requirements with 82 percent of Hispanics and women passing the test, though it was unclear if those rates are the final or official figures used in determining accreditation status.

The warning accreditation status followed a compliance audit of the college last fall that found UTEP did not meet some curriculum and student support requirements.

The action plan developed over the summer includes 32 activities or initiatives the college will pursue to address the test results and issues outlined in the compliance audit. That audit found alignment issues between the UTEP curriculum for early education coursework in art, music and theater and a need for better feedback of student teachers by supervisors.

College officials, who say the number of students who don't even attempt certification tests is hurting its accreditation, are developing a road map for education students showing which standards they must meet as they move through the program.

The college already requires students to pass a qualifying, or practice, exam before they take the certification tests.

Communicating the negative

Even as the college formulated that action plan more than six months ago, the university didn't inform students about its accreditation status.

Riter said there was no straight-forward explanation for that decision.

"We are putting in place tough steps that we think will probably reduce the number of graduates, probably reduce our enrollment, but increase the number of people -- the percentage of people, that pass that exam," Riter said.

"We haven't made a big announcement and I'm not sure what purpose, what point, that would serve."

Webb, who said she was only one of 60 who passed or even took the test, said students are feeling increasingly frustrated by the changing exam standards and also what appears to be a lack of communication by the university.

"They are making changes to improve the situation, but a lot of students are lost and frustrated," Webb said.

Riter, who replaced longtime college Dean Josefina Tinajero this fall, said administrative changes have taken place in the dean's office in the College of Education. Sixteen other staff members, advisors and administrators with oversight of student teaching were impacted by the program's reorganization, university officials said. Their responsibilities within the college have changed.

A search for a permanent dean is ongoing, Riter said.

Tinajero, who had served as the dean of the college since 2004, resigned from that position in July and is now focusing on education research at the university.

Tinajero said the rapid change in passing standards was the cause of the accreditation problem.

"They did change very, very fast -- not only the standards but also the test," she said. "The way the tests were being administered and the way the tests were being scored and the way the information was being administered by the state. There were lots of changes that occurred there."

Tinajero said the warning status was no secret at the college this year.

All faculty were notified as was a committee composed of school district, staff and student representatives, Tinajero said. But no official letters or emails went to students notifying them of the issue, Riter confirmed.

"Why send a message to all of the students? I mean, why do we want to communicate a negative?" Tinajero said. She added that faculty should have communicated with the students in their classrooms.

2. Accredited-Warned: a) fails to meet performance standards; b) fails to meet standards in any two gender or ethnicity groups; c) fails to meet standards for demographic group two consecutive years regardless if deficiency is in same demographic group or standard

3. Accredited-Probation: a) fails to meet performance standards for two consecutive years; b) fails to meet standards in any three gender or ethnicity groups for three consecutive years regardless if deficiency is in same demographic group or standard;